According to a report published in the regime’s Tehran-based newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad, young adults aged 25 to 26 in Tehran will have to wait “166 years to become homeowners” as long as housing prices remain stable. The report is based on a field survey about the prospects of homeownership for those born in the 1990s and are in their mid-20s.
According to global definitions, those born between 1997 and 2010 are known as “Generation Z.” The newspaper conducted its survey among a sample of 100 individuals from this demographic who had worked for one to two years in an organization.
Based on the report, the average monthly income of Generation Z employees in the surveyed organization ranges from 113 million to 120 million rials (approximately $226 to $240), and they can save up to 10 million rials (approximately $20) per month “at best.” Given current housing prices, they would have to wait 166 years to become homeowners, assuming a fixed income and housing price.
The report notes that the waiting time for the previous generation to become homeowners was 70 years under current conditions, based on the price index and average income level.
This figure was obtained assuming a 20% annual income savings rate and the average price of a 50-square-meter apartment in Tehran.
The newspaper reports that Generation Z respondents are not optimistic about the possibility of becoming homeowners. One group stated that they do not think about housing or homeownership at all, and as a result, they do not think about marriage or having children either. Another group, whose members are over 30 years old, said they have no chance of becoming homeowners and have entered a state of “permanent bachelorhood.”
The newspaper also quoted another group of young adults who said they cannot even afford to buy a bicycle for commuting to work and home, and they consider homeownership conditional on a “fundamental” change in Iran’s economic conditions. Otherwise, they said they would consider migration to other countries.
On July 25, a member of the majlis (parliament) announced that the number of people “below the poverty line” has reached 28 million and warned about the social damages caused by “the economic downturn affecting some segments of society in the past decade.”
Previously, Ali Agha Mohammadi, the head of the economic group of the Office of the regime’s President and a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, had reported on May 18 that at least 19.7 million people in Iran are deprived of basic living facilities such as housing, employment, education up to 12 years, health, food, and clothing.
Following the increase in foreign exchange rates since 2018, the average price of every square meter of housing in Iran has been on the rise, and in the capital, the price of every square meter of housing has increased from 60 million rials in 2018 to over 600 million rials (approximately $1,200) in the spring of 2023.
The government has tried to adjust the plan to build “one million houses annually” by increasing the amount of “housing loans.” However, the regime’s media and social network users have revealed that the monthly installment amount of this loan is so high that ordinary people cannot afford to repay it.
On July 1, Shargh newspaper reported that the conditions for granting this loan are such that only wealthy individuals and those who do not need to borrow for housing can take advantage of these facilities.
The report also stated that the loan for purchasing and repairing a house has doubled and reached 9.6 billion rials (approximately $19,200), but not only can this amount only buy a 20-square-meter house, but the monthly installments for the 12-year repayment plan set by the government are 200 million rials (approximately $400), while the basic salary of an employee is 70 million rials ($140).
Social media users also wrote that citizens who receive this 9.6 billion rials loan must return about 28 billion rials, and a housing economist told Shargh newspaper that considering commissions, the profit of this bank loan reaches 28 percent.
